True Story: Twenty-years ago today, this happened!

Exactly twenty years ago today, February 23rd, 1997, I wrote in a journal for the first time. My first sentence was: I just want to be empowered.

At the time, I was a young, stay-at-home mother. My eldest daughter, Madelaine, had just turned two. My baby, Julia, was two days away from her three-month birthday.

The night before I bought that blank journal, with my two-year-old sleeping peacefully in her in canopy bed, I sat in my rocking chair nursing my newborn, listening to Bob Greene’s Make the Connection. My husband wasn’t home from work yet. It was eleven p.m. I was crying. Sobbing, actually.

I’d hear Oprah say years later: “I didn’t really know what the connection was that Bob was always talking about.” That night, I didn’t really know, either. But something in my heart cracked open just wide enough for me to believe that maybe I, too, could be happy and thin again.

As I look back, it shocks me that I wasn’t thinking about finally dealing with the time when I was twelve years old and my father told me he was going out to buy a gallon of milk and a pack of cigarettes and then never came home. I’d had no idea my parents were even arguing, and yet nothing in my life would ever be the same again. My parents never once sat us down and explained what was happening. It was just never talked about. Dad moved in (three cities away) with his new, crazy girlfriend; and a month later, my older brother followed. I never said good-bye to either of them. I wasn’t thinking about healing from the multitude of traumas that came after that—when my mother threw herself into bodybuilding and partying, moved her 24-year-old boyfriend in, or when the sexual abuse began to occur nightly. I rarely thought about the stranger who dragged me behind a bush one night and raped me when I was 14. Or how my mom kicked me out when I was fifteen because I was ‘cramping her style’ cuz her newest boyfriend liked me, or how afraid I was that—despite the treatment I’d undergone for the early signs of cervical cancer when I was only seventeen, taking the city bus to the hospital by myself—the cancer might come back again.

Nope. I wasn’t thinking about any of these things. I was thinking about my weight, specifically, How had I gotten this fat?

When I look back on that moment, I can see how completely lost I really was. I couldn’t see that the suffering I was experiencing had nothing to do with numbers on a scale. Yet rather than face and begin to process the emotional, sexual, and physical abuse I’d suffered, I believed at that time that if I could just lose weight than I would be happy.

We’ve all been consumed with disempowered, repetitive thoughts—misdirected fear—the stuff that distracts and numbs us from the real stuff.

Fast forward to today…LITERALLY today: February 23, 2017. I just found out today that I’m doing an event with Glennon Doyle Melton — the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Love Warrior!

I’m so so so happy I’ve finally healed the ‘real pain’. If you don’t know my story, I even went on to write a best-selling book called, Simply Woman: 12-Week Body-Mind-Soul Program that has helped thousands of women regain their health and happiness, too.

In one week’s time, on March 1st, I’m beginning a brand-new 12-Week Simply…Woman Program called “Love Your Body, Love Your Life!”

(Note: I’m actually re-writing the original Simply…Woman book with my two daughters. This new book will be called Simply…Woman! Love Your Body, Love Your Life! by Crystal, Madelaine and Julia)

Yep–three empowered women, mother and daughters, teaching you that no matter what you’ve been through or what the voices in your head are telling you, you can learn to love yourself, love your life, and even, love your body!

And the best part: our three-month, online, Simply…Woman journey is no charge. Nope! No cost at all. Just show up. Bring your willingness. Bring your pain. Bring all of you.

Isn’t it time you become your own best friend?

Why don’t you join me, my daughters, and over 2000 other like-minded women for an adventure of a lifetime: Discovering the Greatness inside of you!

Although we are in the works of rewriting it, this original book helped me lose nearly 100 pounds, and it’s helped thousands of other women. So whether its weight loss, weight gain, or just body acceptance you’re looking for, we’ve got you!

From life as a homeless teen to coaching A-List celebrities, from having abs of steel and the Miss Galaxy to weighing over 200 pounds after having babies, best-selling author, Emotional Age and Communication Expert Crystal Andrus Morissette is a worldwide leader in the field of self-discovery and personal transformation. A media darling, she has been featured numerous times on Oprah.com, the New York Post, Fox TV, the Daily Mail, CBS Radio, CTV, CityTV, Global TV, Slice TV, the Globe and Mail, and the Toronto Star. Crystal is the founder of the S.W.A.T. Institute (Simply Woman Accredited Trainer), an empowerment coach certification exclusively for women that she created with fellow female visionaries Louise Hay, Marianne Williamson, Dr Christiane Northrup, Colette Baron-Reid, and Sandra Anne Taylor among others. Crystal is the author of four best-selling books, including her latest release entitled, “The Emotional Edge: Discover Your Inner Age, Ignite Your Hidden Strengths and Reroute Misdirected Fear to Live Your Fullest.” She is also certified in nutrition, yoga, and sports medicine. Learn more at www.TheEmotionalEdge.com | www.SWATInstitute.com | www.SimplyWoman.com